What does the Pacific Northwest have to do with Led Zeppelin? As far as I can tell, nothing. The Pacific Northwest is a region of America that encompasses Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and parts of Montana and California, with a climate that ranges between Oceanic and Alpine. Led Zeppelin was an English hard rock band that was super into The Lord of the Rings and ripping off old blues songs. See the connection? Nope. You don't. If I drew a pie chart of these two things, there would be no overlap whatsoever.

But Jealous Butcher Records begs to differ, or at least they have some super secret reason for releasing a tribute to Led Zep performed by fifty bands from the Pacific Northwest. The 33-track, double-disc compilation, titled The Land Of Ice And Snow: The Songs of Led Zeppelin, features Chris Walla, M. Ward, Lackthereof, and a slew of other notable locals, and spans Zep repertoire from Zeppelin I to Coda. Like so many of these damned compilations, it benefits a good cause (that'd be music programs in Portland public schools). It'll come out on October 12th, but you can pre-order and preview the full track listing on Jealous Butcher's website. There'll also be a release show on October 9th, so eager fans in the neighb can grab a copy a few days early at that shindig.

The lineup seems pretty solid, but it's a shame they couldn't get Portland resident Stephen Malkmus to bust out a track. Any Pac NWers you wish had been included? Zeppelin cuts you'd like to hear covered? Sound off!